No gang case taken in Special Criminal Court

A CASE has yet to be brought before the Special Criminal Court under legislation enacted a year ago to combat gangland crime, an Oireachtas committee has been told.

Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern told the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice yesterday that 69 people were arrested under legislation that allows offences related to organised crime to be referred to the non-jury court.

However the Director of Public Prosecutions did not direct that any of the subsequent cases should be tried there.

Nevertheless, the committee agreed the provision should be renewed for another 12 months.

Section 8 of the Criminal Justice (Amendment) Act 2009 came into force last July. It provided for the trial of organised crime offences in the Special Criminal Court as directed by the DPP. It also created a new offence of directing or controlling a criminal organisation.

The legislation was introduced in the wake of public concern about the murder of Limerick man Roy Collins and the intimidation of his family. Its aim was to prevent the failure of prosecutions due to intimidation of jurors.

Mr Ahern told the committee that Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy believed the provision was likely to be required for some time to come.

“It is absolutely essential to ensure that the gardaí have at their disposal the best possible range of powers to face up to organised criminal gangs.”

He said gardaí told him on a regular basis that at high-profile trials individuals belonging to gangs go into court and “stare out” jurors to put them under pressure.

“The thugs involved in organised crime are desperate people who will stop at nothing to avoid being brought to account for their crimes,” the Minister said.

Fine Gael TD Charlie Flanagan said he supported the renewal of the provision, although it did not have the results the Minister had anticipated.

Labour Party Deputy Pat Rabbitte said, however, that the provision implied the ordinary courts were inadequate for the effective administration of justice.

“I don’t believe in the law-making that derives from the latest atrocity,” he said.

The committee welcomed provisions contained in a new EU directive that would help combat sexual abuse and exploitation of children and child pornography.

It raised concerns though about how article 21, which requires member states to block access to internet sites containing or disseminating child pornography, would be implemented.

The Post-Release (restrictions on certain activities) Order Scheme 2010, was also discussed. It specifies restrictions and conditions that may be imposed on people convicted under the Criminal Justice (Amendment) Act 2009.

Mr Ahern said a pilot electronic tagging scheme involving 20 post-release prisoners would be introduced in August.